


Brand New Day

by Deiph



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Once and Future King, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2013-01-10
Packaged: 2017-11-24 23:50:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deiph/pseuds/Deiph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin helps Arthur through his first day in modern England after he returns from Avalon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brand New Day

 

The boat made no sound, caused no ripples, as it glided silently to the shore from which it had once left so many centuries ago. The darkness fell heavy that night and no one was about except one lone shape standing on the bank, watching as the boat finally fell still. There was a body inside, but he had expected that. It was the man he had been waiting to return for as long as he could remember.

 

***

 

Over the centuries Merlin had aged and youthened time and time again, following the cycles that the mortals around him expected to see. Now he was young again, wanting to be who Arthur remembered when he finally opened his eyes.

The body in the boat hadn’t moved yet. The king was still wearing the armour that he had been sent to Avalon in so long ago, and he was lying so peacefully there that it seemed in that moment as though no time had passed at all as Merlin looked down upon him.

Merlin walked the few paces forward and crouched down, waiting patiently for the king to awaken now that the boat had touched shore and the final magic of his resting place left him behind.

“ _Arthur_...” he whispered, a touch of his own magic in his voice as the gentle winds blew his voice towards the water.

Arthur opened his eyes slowly, almost groggily as though he had been dragged from a long, deep sleep. He could see a shape above him and while he could barely make out the details, he knew instinctively who it would be. “ _Merlin_.”

 

***

 

Merlin smiled in the darkness and the magic in him relaxed, knowing his other half was here once again. He reached down and pushed a supporting arm under Arthur’s shoulders, helping to raise him until he was seated in the boat.

The king was still dazed, still not quite functioning, and glazed eyes turned to Merlin’s own and stared at him for a long moment.“What are you _wearing_?”

“Shut up, Arthur. I’ll explain everything later,” Merlin replied, rolling his eyes. He should have known some of Arthur’s first words would be light jibes, ruining the moment, but he was happy to hear them.

Merlin pulled him higher to his feet and wrapped a surprisingly strong arm around the king’s waist to prop him upright. Arthur stumbled over the edge of the boat as he stepped out but quickly regained his footing. He felt like he had been given a powerful sleeping draught and he shook his head, trying to clear it to understand what was happening.

“Merlin...” Arthur tried again as he lurched against his servant, feeling himself being half dragged up from the shore towards the hardened path above.

“ _Later_ , Arthur. I promise,” Merlin said, knowing there would be a flood of questions soon. They started a slow walk along the path, Merlin firmly guiding both their movements forward. “Sleep tonight. You need to rest while you adjust.”

It would be a long walk home at the pace they were travelling but it was the best way. Merlin knew it would have been quicker had he brought his car but that was not something to introduce to the king that night.

Merlin had rented a cottage in this village nearby Avalon not long ago once the magic had told him Arthur would soon be returning. He had been living in an apartment in London for a long time before that but Arthur was most definitely not ready for a big city yet. Not that it wouldn’t be a source of wicked amusement for Merlin to bring the king to the middle of central London and watch his reaction, but that was only an idle fantasy he would indulge in whenever Arthur might be tempted to consider acting like a prat once again.

Merlin allowed himself a small smile into the darkness at the thought but pushed it down quickly as he focused on what he was here to do that night. Their footsteps weren’t loud but Merlin disguised the sound with a soft spell to protect them from unwanted attention. They reached his cottage finally about half an hour after Arthur had come to shore and Merlin unlocked his door with Arthur propped against his side. He brought the king inside, supporting him as a almost a dead weight now as Arthur stumbled into what would be his new bedroom, and soon the king was fast asleep as he fell upon the soft mattress below.

 

 ***

 

Arthur opened his eyes and for a moment everything was as he remembered. He felt the soft bedding beneath him and the sun’s first light whitening his vision as he adjusted to the coming morning.

He stretched out and felt his hand knock against something hard beside his bed, which was strange as the curtains of his four poster bed should be there but they weren’t. His eyes were clear now and he turned his head and saw his hand resting on a low wooden side cabinet. He tensed and turned his head to look around the rest of the room.

“ _MERLIN!_ ”

Arthur shot up against the back of his bed as he let out the yell, face bewildered and tense and his feet tangled in the sheets for a moment as he pushed himself back against the headboard behind him, eyes wide. His memories weren’t clear yet but they started coming back in blurred fragments. The feeling of waves lapping next to the boat, opening his eyes, seeing Merlin who was somehow different…

Merlin came bursting through the bedroom door at that moment and took in the sight of Arthur sitting in a paranoid daze, wearing just the long pants Merlin had left on him after stripping him of his armour after he has fallen unconscious the night before.

 “’Morning,” Merlin said softly, carefully, as he monitored Arthur’s mood and reaction.

“Really? ‘Morning’? _That’s_ all you have to say to me?” Arthur shot back in a jumble of words, his voice slightly higher in pitch than usual.

Merlin could see the king begin to panic but he had expected that. The adjustment he would soon have to make would be a challenge possibly beyond what he had faced before. He just nodded and gave his goofy, quick grin, knowing if anything would be familiar to Arthur it would be that. Arthur was staring around the room, gaping at the foreignness of it, trying not to think about why there were so many things around him that he didn’t recognise at all.

Merlin came over and sat on the edge of the bed, allowing Arthur a moment to fumble around with the sheets he was partially caught in until he had more control again. Regaining composure was an instinct he had expected from the king who was never one to be caught off guard for long, instead being the type to want to instead move to action, depending on whether he decided the confusion he faced was something to attack, save or ignore.

In this case it was none of his usual choices and Arthur realised as he felt his heart beating too fast in his chest that he wasn’t in immediate danger. Merlin was here and while the room wasn’t his, the objects in it weren’t right and weren’t anything he knew, nothing was attacking him so it seemed an impractical overreaction to continue being so alarmed.

Merlin still hadn’t spoken and so Arthur shut his hanging jaw and stared back at him instead, studying him. He could see Merlin was different. How he had moved into the room was more confident and smooth, not the uncoordinated servant who was all limbs and accidents. A memory stirred in him and suddenly he remembered Merlin trying to save him after he had been wounded by Mordred’s sword. Then he remembered he had magic.

“You’re a sorcerer,” he said, but the words were more reconfirming his thoughts as the surprise and shock weren’t there anymore. It didn’t seem the obvious first question but it was the best his mind could manage to begin, supplying him with one of his last familiar memories.

Merlin nodded, keeping his expression schooled. “Yes,” he said, simply.

Arthur turned to stare out the window a moment into the bright morning light, waiting for his thoughts to settle into place about how he had felt about the admission. He remembered now knowing how incredible it was, how unbelievable, but that it was true. And he remembered most of all how loyal Merlin was to him, and how he was nothing to be feared. He gave a small nod to himself and turned his head back to meet Merlin’s eyes. He could still see a lingering nervousness in the eyes that met his and he felt amazed once again that a sorcerer as powerful as Merlin would care what he thought of him. Arthur eventually settled on giving a reassuring smile, knowing without understanding why yet that everything was fine for now.

 “Where are we?” he asked, changing the topic as he waved one hand in a confused gesture, his finger taking in the unusual features he didn’t recognise – the mp3 dock on the chest of drawers, the alarm clock by his bed. The entire room.

Merlin just stared at him for a long moment, trying to prepare him and not finding an easy way to answer that question. “Same land, just in the year 2013 instead,” he replied eventually, his face trying to remain calm to help Arthur once the significance sunk him.

Arthur just stared back, shaking his head slightly as though he thought his manservant was mad and this was all some horrible spell that had been cast on him. Not that it _felt_ horrible, but it did feel foreign, strange, like he had been transported to another world. He knew from what he had already seen since returning that Merlin was speaking the truth but he couldn’t quite understand how it was possible. And then he finally remembered something important.

“I died.” His voice was far quieter and the look in his eyes ebbed confusion and flowed with a surety that he knew his time had ended.

“You did,” Merlin said, still carefully studying Arthur’s face to see how he was coping. “I sent you to Avalon, an island where you would rest until you were needed again.” He focused his blue eyes sharply on Arthur’s own. “And now, apparently, you are.”

“I don’t remember…” Arthur shook his head again, the sheets rustling against him as he moved to sit up straighter. “I don’t remember the time passing,” he finished finally, unsure exactly how to say that he remembered only dying and then a feeling of peace that seemed timeless until his eyes had opened once more and it was Merlin staring down at him once more.

And suddenly it was that very face that didn’t make sense.

“If so many centuries have passed, then why are you the same age I remember you?” Arthur asked, baffled. “Why are you here? Have you been alive all this time?”

Merlin had expected the questions though he wasn’t sure how Arthur would take the answers. He had barely introduced the concept of him being a sorcerer before Arthur had died all those centuries ago, and now there was so much more the king needed to learn.

“My magic allows me immortality,” he said carefully, studying Arthur’s reaction closely. “I have lived since you died, and I will remain as long as I need to be here.”

Arthur didn’t speak. It was still so difficult for him to reconcile the bumbling servant he had known with this boy – this _ancient man_ – who was seated on the edge of his bed.

“What have you been doing all this time?” were the best words he could manage, finally.

“Waiting for you,” Merlin replied simply. And he meant it, Arthur could see. He didn’t have a response to that, such an immense admission as it was, speaking of far more than was said.

“So...” continued Merlin, instead, deciding wisely to change the subject to something less momentous to help Arthur regain some sense of normality, “as fun as it is having this conversation with you here in your underwear, how about I go make us some breakfast and you can get dressed?”

Arthur nodded dumbly, his mind still a little fragmented from the revelations and changes that this world had already thrown at him.  “Fetch me my armour,” he said eventually with a small wave of his hand in the direction of the door, presuming it must be there as he couldn’t see any other familiar clothes nearby.

Merlin gave a sympathetic wince which did nothing but irk Arthur who felt already that Merlin was patronising him with his suddenly superior knowledge.

“ _Now_ , Merlin,” Arthur reinforced, raising his eyebrows, but the words and the expression made no difference. Merlin stayed where he was on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath.

“You need to know something,” Merlin said quietly, and Arthur could tell from the seriousness of his face that he wasn’t being mocked in any way, that this was something he needed to know about this strange other place they were now in. “You’re not a king here anymore.”

Arthur looked like he was going to say something in protest, but he was not slow to think and it only took him a moment to piece together the fact that this year was so far into the future that the world must have moved on. Of course he wasn’t king anymore.

“What am I then?” he said instead, his mind steeled for the answer as everything he knew was being taken away from him.

Merlin smiled, his eyes slightly glinting in mischief not because what he was about to speak was a lie but instead because he knew sometime down the track he would look back and enjoy this moment. “You’re just a regular guy,” he answered. “Not royalty, not better than anyone else, just a normal person like the rest of us.”

Arthur was taking it well, Merlin thought as he watched a range of emotions cross the king’s face, from surprise to resistance to a certain sense of resignation that he already didn’t expect this day to be simple.

“We have a queen on the throne,” Merlin continued, fidgeting with the edge of a sheet though he wasn’t aware of the movement of his fingers. “The power has changed though – it is the political leaders who are elected by the people who rule now. The hierarchy as you remember it doesn’t exist in quite the same way, or at least it’s not as obvious. Workers have rights –“ he paused to give a significant look to his former king to let him know he thought this change in law was one Arthur would do well to remember – “and if you go around bossing people around and treating them like they’re less than you, well... at best you’ll be ignored and at worst you’ll be punched. Or sued.”

Arthur didn’t know what ‘sued’ meant but he could guess it was something to avoid. “So what are you trying to tell me?” he asked. “Get to the point.”

Merlin almost smiled as a momentary feeling of relief bloomed within him. If Arthur was choosing irritated as a reaction then he was enough his own self to not be of too much concern.

“From this moment,” Merlin said pointedly, making sure Arthur understood how serious he was, “you need to learn how to be like everyone else. The world is more sophisticated than you remember it so the average person is probably living a more comfortable life than you ever did, so don’t worry – it won’t be as bad as I’m sure you’re imaging it. But you do need to look after yourself and not expect anyone else to do it for you, and you do need to learn how to say please and thank you.”

Arthur had been nodding his way blankly though Merlin’s speech and now it was over he processed the information until he gave a long sigh.

“If I find out you’re making this up so that you don’t have to wait on me then I’ll have you in whatever version of the stocks people have here,” he began with a pointed look, but then his face softened and he sighed again, “but I’m guessing you’re not lying and I need to adjust as you said. So... I might not be a king now but I was once and I have had to make difficult decisions and tough changes in my life. God know, this is just one more.”

Merlin was impressed. He was sure Arthur would fight him kicking and screaming for far longer than he had. Maybe Arthur had changed through his time on Avalon though the king didn’t remember it at all.

“Okay, good,” Merlin said suddenly, deciding to go with the momentum of Arthur’s accommodating frame of mind while it still held. “Then let’s start small.” He pointed over to a chair that sat underneath the room’s window and held a neatly folded pile of clothes. “Camelot fashion isn’t something you can get away with here so you need new clothes. They’re for you.”

He had left out jeans, a t-shirt, underwear, socks and shoes. He tried to keep it simple for Arthur. No clothes with zips, no watch, everything simple and basic. He wanted to start him small, a step at a time, with the idea that he could work up from there once he inevitably started complaining that he wanted something that more suited his stature.

“I’m not going to dress you,” Merlin continued, “you’ll need to learn how to do it yourself but I can stay the first time if you need.”

Arthur shook his head. He knew without consciously thinking it that he would try to do as much himself as he could. He was not a child and didn’t enjoy feeling like one, and a king surely should be able to tackle any challenge given, however unglamorous.

Merlin nodded, understanding and rose from where he was sitting to take a step towards the head of the bed. He let a hand drop to Arthur’s shoulder for a moment to show his support. “How are you feeling?”

Arthur raised a testing eyebrow. “How am I feeling? _Seriously?_ ”

Merlin grinned and tried for humour. “Yeah, like are you now feeling appreciative to your ex-servant for all he had to do for you?” he replied smoothly, and then quickly ducked out of the room as he saw Arthur make a grab for the nearest object he could find and throw it in his direction. He made it away in time to the sound of something small and heavy hitting the back of the now closed bedroom door.

“Breakfast in five!” he yelled back over his shoulder. “Get dressed!”

He had a momentary worry that Arthur wouldn’t be able to work out _how_ to dress himself and that he should go back in regardless of what Arthur thought, but he knew he would just be enabling him if he did. Anyway, Merlin realised, he himself had changes to adapt to. He was too used to the memories of being Arthur’s servant that he would need to be careful about falling back into the pattern again.

So instead of returning to the bedroom, he let Arthur work out how to dress himself. He was a smart man, after all and modern clothes were far simpler than the complex armour that the king was used to wearing.

Merlin made his way down to his small kitchen to wait, and quietly started brewing a pot of tea.

 

***

 

It took twenty minutes and Merlin couldn’t imagine what the king was doing in all that time, but finally the sound of footsteps came down the short passageway and Arthur was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Merlin gave a small smile. He had managed to dress himself, for the most part. His t-shirt was on backwards but it wasn’t a bad attempt, overall.

“Morning,” Merlin said again, the same small smile still on his lips.

“Do you find this funny?” Arthur shot back, his uncomfortableness at flailing outside his comfort zone translating into defensiveness again.

“No,” Merlin replied, knowing full well Arthur’s moods and how he must be feeling. He walked over and reached out to grab hold of the bottom of Arthur’s t-shirt, raising it slightly ready to pull it over his head. Arthur gave him a questioning look but didn’t say anything, still used to his servant dressing and undressing him as he required.

“It’s on backwards,” Merlin explained, though he did his best to be nice about it as though it was no big deal. As he finished pulling the shirt from Arthur’s head, he turned it around to show the tag to him. “See this?” he said, running his finger against the small rectangle of material. “This goes at the back.”

Arthur nodded, actually looking interested but also clearly hoping he wouldn’t be expected to remember trivial details such as that again. Somewhere at the back of his resistant mind he knew he would though, so he filed the new information away. Arthur signed, resigned, and took the shirt out of Merlin’s hands, turning it around to face the right way this time.

“Well, I better learn how to dress myself properly, if what you say is true then,” he muttered, still sounding more than a little inconvenienced.

He fumbled with the shirt a moment longer before he pulled it correctly over his head. Merlin wisely said nothing and kept a straight face. Had he known what plans fate had for their future he perhaps wouldn’t have indulged the king so much. Not that he had a choice, but that was still how the wisdom of hindsight went.

He walked back over to the pot on the stove he was using to boil the water for the tea. He’d chosen it rather than use an electric jug this morning to keep things simple for Arthur. Arthur was still standing in the doorway to the kitchen looking vaguely indignant like he was still expecting someone to call the joke so that all would return to normal and he could throw someone into the dungeons for their insolence. Preferably Merlin.

But he knew that wasn’t true, that all this wasn’t a joke. And he knew now that Merlin was helping him and had always helped him. It was strange how his feelings for his servant had changed now. He still spoke to him the same but it felt to him like friendly bickering between equals now, not the annoyance of a superior. But perhaps it had never been the latter.

Merlin walked the boiled kettle over to the two awaiting cups on the small table in the middle of the room. He poured them both a cup and motioned for Arthur to come over to the fridge. He opened it and Arthur peered inside, looking like a child discovering new things for the first time, which in many ways he was.

“It keeps food cool which keeps it fresh longer,” Merlin explained. “It’s called a fridge. And this part here above –“ He opened the freezer compartment. “ – this is called a freezer and is for when you want to store food for longer or to turn water into ice.”

Arthur nodded along, sticking his finger out to touch not the ice inside as he knew what ice was from the cold winters of Camelot, but to touch the bags and containers the food was in, and the unfamiliar material the fridge itself was made from. “Got it,” he said eventually, his voice quiet again as he struggled to be fine with everything that was happening since he awoke.

Merlin reached over and gave him a small pat on his shoulder in a move that was supportive and Arthur understood it to be as such. Then, reaching past Arthur, Merlin grabbed the milk from the fridge and brought it out, closing the main door and freezer compartment after he did.

“Milk,” he said automatically, already feeling himself move into a routine of giving explanations. “Comes in plastic containers you buy at the shops now.”

“Plastic?” asked Arthur, not really sure how much detail he wanted to know yet.

“This,” Merlin said patiently, tapping the side of the milk container. “It’s a substance you’ll see everywhere here – comes in different types and used for lots of different things. You’ll get used to it.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows and gave a slightly self-deprecating wince which wasn’t something Merlin was used to seeing on the king’s face. “I’m sure I will,” he said.

Merlin understood what he meant, that he was talking about far more than what was in Merlin’s hand.

 

***

 

The morning continued smoothly enough, with Merlin scattering their conversations and actions with small asides as explanations and definitions of anything Arthur was yet to understand. He didn’t introduce too much at once, instead trying to keep things simple and just said ‘Later, Arthur” for anything that would take more explanation or seem more of a shock for his first experiences. That didn’t last long as eventually Arthur grew tired of being told which objects he was allowed to learn about and in what order.

“Just explain everything I ask about, Merlin,” he said eventually, as they were walking their cups of tea through the living room and Arthur was studying the television remote by shaking it and then hitting it on the side of a table to see what it would do. “I get it’s all new but it’s not dangerous, is it?”

Merlin shook his head and gave a quirked tilt to his head. “I was going to say no but it all might potentially be dangerous seeing how _you’re_ using things,” he replied with a grin, motioning with his head down to the slight dints in the wood of the coffee table that Arthur had now made after testing the strength of the remote against it.

“Funny,” Arthur shot back. “I see your sense of humour hasn’t improved since last time I saw you.”

“Not possible – it’s already top form,” Merlin quipped back with a wide grin looking very much like his old self to Arthur. He reached over to take the remote from Arthur’s hand and turned on the television with it.

Arthur jumped back a few steps as the screen came to life.

“It’s magic!” he exclaimed in shock, then words momentarily escaped him as he stared at the people on the screen and the pictures he couldn’t understand. He edged forward cautiously to peer around behind it but there was no one there. He hadn’t expected there to be as that wouldn’t have made sense to him either, but this was not something he understood at all.

“It’s not magic,” Merlin explained. “The world has advanced far beyond anything you’re used to. It’s just cleverness.” He tried to think of a way to explain. “It’s like if we were back in Camelot and you had to explain to a small child what a water pump was or what language on a page is. They’d all seem like magical things to someone who’d never seen or understood them before.”

“Are you calling me a small child?” Arthur shot back with a huff, and Merlin shook his head in disbelief. Trust Arthur to take insult when he was just trying to help.

“ _No_ ,” he replied smoothly, “But as you’re now _acting_ like one perhaps I should.”

Arthur hit him lightly on the arm but Merlin could tell he only meant it as a jibe between friends, knowing full well they weren’t really insulting each other.  He did, though, think this was a good opportunity for a break from instruction and back to something dearer to his heart.

“Time for breakfast,” Merlin said, and led Arthur back into the kitchen on the premise that a full stomach would make everything seem better.

They had bacon and eggs for breakfast which Merlin cooked on the electric stove top while Arthur watched. Then after they had eaten, Arthur learned how to use the hot and cold taps on the sink and wash their dishes by hand. There was a dishwasher installed in the cottage, but Merlin again thought it best to introduce him to the basic actions before advancing any further.

They were now on their second cup of tea which was of a flavour Arthur wasn’t familiar with having only known pungent herbal concoctions that Gaius had forced him to drink, but Merlin insisted this was nothing the same and drinking modern tea was about as English as he could hope to get. Arthur found himself in agreement and after taking another sip, he suddenly spoke up.

“What am I meant to do?” he asked, and Merlin could tell he’d been pondering the question for a little while. “If I’m here because I’m needed again, what is it _for_?”

“Politics, perhaps,” pondered Merlin with a shrug. He had had time to consider it over the years. “There’s enough breaks in the world you could start to mend. Do what you did best in our time – start making alliances, start building bridges. Unite people.”

They seemed like such simple words as though it was the easiest thing in the world to do, but Arthur knew that hadn’t been simple even in his own familiar time. He would have to learn this new world first before he could even begin anything else such as bringing about a new Golden Age.

“Fine,” he eventually replied, calmly, and Merlin actually laughed, spluttering a little tea as he did so. A whole flurry of expressions crossed his face in a few moments before he settled on pleasure and amusement.

“You haven’t changed,” Merlin said eventually, after he calmed his breathing. He was shaking his head slightly at the humour of it. “ _That’s_ your answer? I tell you that you should basically work to fix the entire _world_ and you just say ‘Fine?”

Arthur shrugged but there was light dancing in his eyes. “Well, I _am_ a king, you know, Merlin,” he said with mock regalness. “I was born for this.”

 “Well you can be born to learn how to shop, put a load of washing on, and a few hundred other things first,” Merlin shot back with a large grin. He was looking forward to it, but only because he could see Arthur was fine, he wasn’t breaking down, he wasn’t panicking. Well, he was slightly, but Arthur was Arthur after all and he knew how to adapt and cope and succeed because that was what a king did. So it would be enjoyable – entertaining even – only as far as Arthur could manage at each step. Merlin was fairly certain though that Arthur would appreciate the familiarity of an impudent ex-servant teasing him along the way, not that the king would still ever admit it.

 

***

 

It was mid morning the first time Arthur tried to leave the house and Merlin cautioned him against it.

“Merlin,” Arthur began, turning from where he stood just inside the front door and had been fumbling with the slightly unfamiliar lock, “I think we’ve been through this before. I am not a child, and I need to learn this world.” He reached to place both his hands on Merlin’s shoulders and look him in the eyes. “I can’t stay in here forever.”

Merlin gave a grimace, not sure if he was more worried about inflicting the outside world on Arthur or inflicting Arthur on the outside world. Either didn’t seem such a good idea so soon after the king had returned.

“It’s too-“ he began.

“I swear to god, Merlin, if you say ‘it’s too soon’ one more time I will completely forget I’m not your king anymore and find the nearest heavy object I don’t understand and hit you with it. Understand?”

Merlin stared back into the focused and determined face only a foot from his own and muttered something that might have been a swear word under his breath but luckily Arthur wasn’t familiar with it so chose to let it go.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Arthur finished on his behalf and was out the front door before Merlin could try any other plan to stop him.

He instead scurried after him, finding him only a few steps outside staring out into the street.

The houses were clearly houses but they didn’t look as Arthur remembered such things, and then there was the wooden poles with odd metallic looking cords strung between them high up along the streets. There was also cars, not that Arthur knew what they were, but luckily for him one chose that moment to drive past down Merlin’ quiet street to demonstrate what it did.

He was grappling for his sword that he had forgotten wasn’t there as Merlin stepped quickly to his side and grabbed hold of his arm and spun him around so they faced each other.

“It’s okay! It’s just a car!” Merlin said quickly and forcefully as though hoping his explanation would penetrate deep through Arthur’s sudden panic. “They’re modern transport, they’re not dangerous, there’s people inside them,” he finished in a rush, and then considered his words. “Well, they’re dangerous if you get hit by one so don’t go charging any, right?”

Arthur was breathing a little too fast but he forced himself to calm down, trusting Merlin’s words. In fact, Merlin was his own point of safety in this world and he was learning fast to rely on him to guide him as he had, he admitted to himself, so often done in their past but just in a different way.

“Transport?” he said shakily, and it was then he noticed one of the concerning contraptions was actually sitting in Merlin’s driveway to the side of his cottage. He eyed it suspiciously.

“Transport,” Merlin confirmed, then felt he should put it in terms Arthur would relate to. “Like a horse.”

“Like a _horse_?” Arthur repeated, raising a disbelieving eyebrow. “I’m not an idiot, Merlin. It’s clearly not anything like a horse.”

“Sorry, yeah, not a horse,” Merlin admitted with a quick grin. He thought for a moment. “More like a metal box that rolls on wheels that you sit in…” He left the sentence hanging with a slight questioning inflection on the end as though he was testing to see whether that explanation would be accepted or not.

There was a minute of silence while Arthur studied the car, walking around it, peering inside it, running his hand along the outside to see how it felt.  Eventually he nodded, satisfied. “A metal box on wheels,” he confirmed, feeling almost proud of himself to having found a way to accept his first major obstacle encountered outside the safety of Merlin’s cottage.

Merlin was also relieved though thought that getting _into_ the car might be taking things too far and if Arthur wanted an adventure outside the house then they might be better to walk. He suggested it but Arthur’s expression gave a stubborn contradictory answer.

“Does everyone use ‘cars’ to get around then?” Arthur asked with a raised eyebrow, sounding oddly like a school teacher checking the knowledge of a student.

Merlin nodded cautiously. “They do, for the most part,” he replied, deciding this wasn’t the time to start explaining trains, buses and most definitely not planes.

“Okay, then we’ll use this car to travel to the local village,” Arthur decided, eyeing it again as though expecting it to challenge him. When it did nothing but stay sitting in the driveway he huffed and strode up closer again, staring inside.

Merlin sighed and began instructing Arthur on how to get inside the car, what seatbelts were, and what to expect when they started moving. He wisely turned the radio off. He didn’t think voices sounding out of nowhere would do any good to Arthur’s already tested nerves.

 

***

 

Merlin drove them down to the village centre which was not a large place – only a few streets of shops around a central small village green. It was picturesque at least which helped calm the king as he stared out the window of the car, gaping at the sights that passed him by and jumping slightly the first few times someone beeped Merlin for driving too slowly. There was no way Merlin was going to drive any faster though as his plan for the day was to keep everything as slow and non-threatening as possible.

Arthur received some basic instructions about road rules as he started asking about the lights that sometimes Merlin stopped for and sometimes if green continued past. Arthur was also relieved to see that what he was wearing was similar to what most men he saw walking down the paths outside wore. He had felt underdressed or too much like a peasant but apparently that was fashion. There was certainly no armour and capes that he could see so he would learn to accept that.

Merlin parked near the centre of the village and helped Arthur undo his seatbelt, explained how the door opened from the inside, and then exited the car himself to wait patiently on the sidewalk until Arthur joined him.

“What now?” Merlin asked. “Any requests?”

Arthur raised his palms up in a shrug. “It’s all new,” he replied and then he thought of Merlin and it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps he had a life here and had work to do. “Am I keeping you from anything?” he asked, actually sounding slightly concerned tingled with an edge of embarrassment as though he was a burden to his ex-servant. Arthur had always hated feeling like a useless or incapable addition to anything and this world wasn’t helping his fears.

“Not really,” Merlin replied, and in his eyes Arthur could see he was genuinely pleased the king had thought to ask. “But we could start doing a few practical things before stopping for lunch if you want.”

After he received a willing nod from Arthur, Merlin led him to the bank where they set him up with a bank account and credit card and they withdrew some cash from Merlin’s account to get him started. As they left the branch, Arthur put a hand on Merlin’s arm to stop him.

“You used magic,” he said accusingly, but he didn’t seem that annoyed. “When you spoke to the woman inside, your eyes flashed. A lot.”

“They did,” Merlin replied factually. He gave a lopsided grin at his friend. “Arthur, you’ve just appeared out of nowhere. Trust me when I say there’s no way you were going to be given a bank account without any identification of who you are or any number of other documents you don’t yet have.” He shrugged as though writing the whole matter off as a necessarily deception. “I did what I had to do.”

 “Is that really honest?” Arthur asked, a little perturbed by how easily Merlin was bending the law.

“All for a good cause,” Merlin replied pragmatically after Arthur spoke his worries. “And anyway, you want money or not?”

Arthur let out a small hum that seemed to acknowledge that Merlin had a fair point.

 

***

 

After a short trip to collect some mail from a street front post office box that Merlin has set up for his stay in the village, they decided it was time for an early lunch. Initiating Arthur into the modern world was appetite-inducing work.

Taking a quiet stroll to the local pub, Merlin stopped just outside the doors again, suddenly apprehensive at the amount of people inside and wondering just how many unexpected obstacles they would encounter that would bother the king. He hadn’t even spoken but Arthur could see it all in his face.

 “I know how to handle myself in a pub, Merlin. We had pubs in Camelot, if you recall. I dragged you out of them enough times.”

Merlin hid a small grin. That was true enough, so he stood aside and swept one hand dramatically towards the door. “Then, _sire_ , go handle yourself in the pub.”

“I will.”

“Good.”

“ _Fine.”_

_“Right.”_

After that moment of reflexive bickering, Arthur pushed ahead through the door, Merlin only a step behind him.

 

***

 

Arthur did well, overall.

He had been polite to the man at the bar and had waited his turn. When they received their meals they brought them to a table squashed among many others, the room filling up with the start of the lunch crowd. Arthur had ordered the meat and vegetables that he was most familiar with, only pausing before eating to mock Merlin a moment for ordering some type of meat in pastry that Merlin called ‘pasta’ that Arthur wasn’t too sure about until he tried a piece and decided he liked it.

They had two beers between them, and Arthur was soon moving onto his second which Merlin suspected was more for courage to continue through the day as well as a reward from surviving to lunch time.

They chatted idly, Merlin again explaining a few things such as mobile phones to Arthur in the most simplistic way of could think to do. It did result in Arthur asking him ‘What do you mean they’re talking to people who aren’t here? There’s people standing right next to them”, which ended up after a few minutes with Merlin every bit as confused and lost in a conversational maze as Arthur felt. He gave up and told Arthur he would buy him a phone of his own so he could learn by doing.

With that covered, Arthur gave a small, less than civilised belch, and stretched in his chair.

“Well, those beers are making themselves known,” said Arthur, patting his stomach for effect. He started pushing his chair backwards to stand. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

A disconcerting image of the future flashed before Merlin’s eyes in a split second and he lurched forward to grab hold of Arthur’s arm and drag him back to sitting. Arthur let out a small irritated noise but accepted being pulled back down.

“ _Merlin_ …” he said slowly in that way he did when he thought he was speaking to someone who was not that intelligent. “I need to relieve myself. I’m absolutely sure I can handle that on my own.”

Merlin braced himself. He suddenly was well aware that modern conveniences weren’t something Arthur knew yet – chamber pots and the great outdoors were more in his field of knowledge.

“Okay...” he began, painfully. “Though I think we might need to have a talk first.”

Arthur gave him his usual look of suspicious worry. “Really?” he asked. “I just want to make use of a wall out the back of the pub, or whatever the modern equivalent is.”

“Definitely not a wall,” said Merlin quickly, momentarily on safe ground. “Public urination – _not_ a good idea.”

Arthur continued staring at him, this time his expression suggested that Merlin better hurry up and explain what needed to be done as he was taking far too long to get to the point.

Merlin stared back, then avoided eye contact a while, then stared again as he thought through his options. He really should have considered some of these basic practicalities before now but it was a little late for regret.

“I’m going in with you,” he said finally, looking none too pleased at the idea but resigned to his fate.

“Going in where?” asked Arthur slowly, a small sense of foreboding developing within him.

“Restroom,” answered Merlin, his voice quick and fast as it tended to be when he didn’t want to be having the conversation he was forced to have. “Toilet. Washroom. Loo.”

Arthur let out a long, deep sigh and leaned back in his chair a moment, still staring at his friend. “I know I’m going to regret this and we’ll no doubt both end up traumatised by it to some extent or another, so as I don’t know what you’re talking about let’s get whatever it is over with then, shall we?”

He stood up, his chair scraping slightly against the wooden floorboards as he did so and he looked around the crowded room, awaiting further instructions.

Merlin rose slowly, a slightly pained expression on his face and pointed to the sign against a far door with a basic silhouette figure of a man and woman presented on it. “Look for that,” he said. “Or any of the words I told you before.” He turned his back and headed towards it, knowing Arthur would follow him.

 

***

 

It was an awkward and enlightening ten minutes they ended up spending in the pub’s restrooms but at the end of it Arthur was schooled in the wonders of the urinal, flush mechanisms, toilet rolls, soap dispensers, hand dryers and not talking or looking at other men when going about one’s business.

Merlin knew afterwards, without a shadow of a doubt, that he would never want to show his face in that pub again.

 

***

 

“What do you want to do now, Arthur?”

They were standing outside the pub in the sunshine, watching passers by going about their daily business. Arthur was fascinated by everything, his head turning left and right as he scanned for what seemed familiar and what was far outside anything he had seen before.

“Let’s just walk around. You can tell me what everything is.”

“It’s too much all at once,” Merlin replied automatically, concern on his face. He turned to stop Arthur in his tracks by placing a hand on his chest. “Please. Another day.”

“Don’t worry, I know I won’t learn it all at once but I want to at least start seeing it all.” He turned his head to look over at Merlin and gave what was actually a small, pleasant smile. “I want to know this world you live in,” he said. “I want to know how _you_ live in it.”

Merlin wondered why he was still trying to talk Arthur out of what he wanted to do. It had never worked in the past so he couldn’t imagine why he thought it would now. So, instead he gave a nod of assent and they began an afternoon walking in and out of shops, Arthur enjoying the automatic doors that some had, before he browsed through aisles of varying and mysterious substances, each more interesting than the last. He was also practicing his please and thank you’s on any sales assistants who came their way, much to Merlin’s relief.

Merlin was starting to feel the worst of the worry in him leave now that Arthur was beginning to enjoy himself. The king seemed more relaxed, not just about being in this world, but also as though he realised the burdens of the past were no longer with him. This was a new place with endless opportunities and he could be whatever he wanted to in these moments. He couldn’t return to Camelot even if he wished it so the only way for him was forward. That was fine, though, as Merlin was here and by his side.

It was late in the afternoon when they paused to rest on a bench just inside the village green.

“Does everyone here accept magic?” Arthur asked suddenly as he was watching a man using a remote to flip channels on a television inside a tech store across the road.

“Arthur, he’s not-“

“I _know_ ,” Arthur interjected, cutting Merlin off. “I know you told me that they aren’t using magic, that it’s just things are more advanced here than I know.” He turned his head to look and met Merlin’s gaze. “It just reminded me, that’s all. You didn’t mention before whether magic is against the law or how many people use it.”

Merlin gave a small, private half-smile and stretched back further against the bench, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “They don’t believe in it,” he said calmly. “Magic is just fiction to them, something imaginary but nothing actually real.”

Arthur seemed stunned. He turned his head back to look around the town centre again as though viewing the people in a new light, amazed by this new piece of information. “How could they _not_ know?” he asked finally. “How could that happen?”

Merlin caught Arthur’s gaze again when his head turned back his way. There was a look on his face, far more ancient that the youth of his face betrayed, and something far more powerful and wise was behind his eyes. “The world needed a break from magic,” he said in a low voice, sure of the claim. “It began to develop fast and magic could have created chaos far greater than anything Camelot had ever seen.”

And in that moment Arthur knew just how powerful Merlin was, just how much he was made of magic, and just how extraordinary he could be. Arthur didn’t even say what he already could tell, though they both knew it. Merlin had changed the world, taken the control of magic away from it and under his guardianship until it was safe again to let free.

They both fell into silence for a long while, Arthur letting out a long hiss of breath at the immensity of what Merlin had achieved. He could see the wisdom of it, already starting to understand just how different this world was to the one he knew.

 

***

 

The sun was dipping slightly by the time they rose from the bench, the afternoon falling away though there were many shoppers still walking the streets.

“I’m hungry. You hungry? Let’s eat,” said Merlin suddenly, his voice breaking the stillness.

Arthur let loose an unexpected bark of laughter. He turned his head to look with gentle amusement at his friend. “You know, just when I was starting to almost be impressed by you, you ruin it by sounding like the old Merlin I used to know.”

Merlin chuckled and rose from the seat, stretching his arms up a moment to rid himself of a small lingering ache. “Thanks,” he said. “I try.”

He ran a few steps away to avoid Arthur’s attempt to swap him with the back of his hand, and they set off walking towards Merlin’s car, companionable in their journey.

 

***

 

The drive home went smoothly, Arthur adapting quickly now to the changes of the day. He even helped Merlin by pointing out when lights were turning green or red and explaining what should be done at those times.

They made it home just as the first street lights were coming to life and Arthur stared up at them as he stepped out of the car in Merlin’s driveway.

“Is their flames inside the casings?” he asked Merlin, gesturing upward as he spoke.

Merlin shook his head. “It’s powered by electricity. Most things are. See those big poles with wires between them along the street?” Arthur nodded as he remembered wondering what they were before. “People learnt how to harness different elements to bring light and power without having to rely on fire anymore,” he said, knowing it was a poor explanation but not having a better one yet.

When they walked into the cottage, Merlin flipped the light switch just inside the door to further demonstrate his point. “See? Light without flame. Just one of the things we use electricity for.”

Arthur ran his hands through his hair, messing it slightly as he squinted upwards at the ceiling. “I think I’ve officially reached as much information as I can handle for one day,” he said finally, and turned his head to give Merlin a slight smile to show he was fine with that.

“Dinner, then?” Merlin said grinning, relieved in a way that Arthur was finally slowing down what was turning into an insatiable thirst for understanding.

“You read my mind.”

Merlin ordered pizza on the phone to demonstrate how that worked, and then laughed as Arthur saw the advantage to it when food arrived at the doorstep half an hour later without any further effort on their behalf.  They brought it into the living room ate it front of the television, Arthur more staring at the actual screen itself than watching the show. Eventually he began to yawn.

“It’s been a big day,” he admitted, and gave a wry grin at the understatement. “I think I might turn in, if you don’t mind.”

Merlin was surprised he even asked, but he gave a small nod of his head as he reached over to turn the television off. “’Night, Arthur,” he replied. “I’ll stay here a little while longer. My room’s next to yours if you need me in the night.” It didn’t seem a silly thing to say, and Arthur didn’t take it that way.

Arthur rose from his chair and started walking, pausing in the doorway heading back to the room he had woken in, so long ago, that morning. “Thank you,” he said, enunciating slowly, his voice clear and genuine as he looked back down at where Merlin sat and held his gaze to prove the sincerity of his words. He didn’t think he could even find the words that would express how much he meant it.

Merlin let a smile spread over his face that lit his features and sparkled deep in his eyes as he met Arthur’s eyes. “Any time,” he replied, meaning it literally and always.

 

THE END.


End file.
